The Doubletree is located right off the exit for 25, which one takes from the airport and sandwiched between many big box stores. It’s a fairly large hotel.
The weekend, we were in Colorado Springs, happened to be the beginning of the Wounded Warrior games. It is a great event and one can learn more here.
The Doubletree happened to be one of the hotels that hosted families of the athletes participating in the games. Therefore, the hotel was crowded and had tons of activity in its lobby with various representatives of Veteran’s organizations having booths.
The hotel has two shuttles that pick-up and drop off to the airport.
Due to the large number of people coming in for the games, both shuttles were in use. Chris and I got a rental car for the weekend, but its nice to know that option was available, because the airport is about a 15 minute drive from the hotel. From what I saw, both drivers brought bottle water and the famous cookies for people to snack on in the vans. I don’t know if this is a normal occurrence or special for this weekend.
We check-in slightly after 2pm on a Friday. The check-in process took longer than expected because they were so crowded and many rooms were not cleaned. As we waited, the line behind us started to grow to almost 10 people waiting to check-in. Out of nowhere, three additional staff members came to check people in. To help the process, one employee went to those waiting in line to get their names and get the keys to their rooms ready before they reach the check-in line. This proactive service was something I saw all weekend with the staff at the Doubletree. We came back to the lobby 15 minutes after we check-in to leave for the conference and the line was gone…so their system must have worked.
Our room was on the 5th floor and had two double beds:
As you cans see the hotel room was average: a good sized TV, large desk, two comfy beds, and plenty of easy to reach electrical outlets. The room served its purpose, a place to sleep, shower, and dress. What more could one ask? The refrigerator and microwave were nice touches, but we did not use either.
Another major plus was the glass door. The hotel is located right next to a major road, but we never heard the noise. At night, I heard nothing except the sound of Chris snoring. The immediate view was less than desirable.
But step out on the balcony and look left and all I can say is WOW!
Yes, this view amazed me. I am a city boy, so we don’t get these views from a hotel balcony. Both Chris and I were awed just looking up to the sky and seeing the stars. It’s the little things that amaze us.
As Gold members in Hilton's loyalty program, we got two bottles of water and daily breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant:
The buffet consist of hot and cold items:
The food was average and not very good. However, they had a wide choice of food which was appreciated.
Right off the lobby was a business center with a Mac computer, 2 PCs, a printer and fax machine:
Keri from Heels First Travel, who stayed at the hotel, mentioned that their was a pool, but it was closed for renovations.
Why might you ask that I gave this average hotel 5 stars? The answer can not be shown in pictures: it was the service. The staff at the Doubletree was amazing. Absolutely, amazing. The hotel was extremely full which normally would throw staffs off their game. However, many of the guests staying this weekend had special needs. From those checking guests in and those working the restaurant, the staff went above an upon the call of duty to help everyone. For example, one morning, I saw a staff person help a blind gentlemen food from the buffet. Another time, we saw a staff member give a dog bone to a service dog.
On top of that, every single staff person I interacted with greeted me with a hello and smile. The hotel had a warm feeling throughout. Even thought, it was an average product, the staff made it feel like a 5 Star Hotel.
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Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
